John Engler, president of Business Roundtable, says the proposed change will help modernize “America’s outdated tax system.”

“Business leaders believe the U.S. economy will never get healthy unless we modernize our tax system,” Engler, a former Republican governor of Michigan, told the media. “We remain at a disadvantage in the world marketplace. That has to change.”

Advocates for small businesses dismissed the corporate tax reduction. Many of them are still smarting over the fiscal-cliff fight late last year, when corporations abandoned small businesses and threw their support behind legislation that would allow the top individual tax rate to rise to 39.6%, which affected owners of small businesses.

Others criticized the Business Roundtable’s plan, noting that Big Business hasn’t paid anywhere near 35% because of tax breaks.

One analysis showed that from 2008 to 2012, the largest corporations paid an average of 8.1% in federal taxes. Meanwhile, they have seen a doubling of profit in less than 10 years.